Vodafone class action set to start

A long-mooted class action against Vodafone Australia by disgruntled customers is finally about to start.

Law firm Piper Alderman will say on Tuesday it is going ahead with the class action.

It intends to file the suit within the next three months, based on expressions of interest from more than 23,000 customers over the past two years.

The suit follows significant network issues at the mobile carrier during late 2010 and early 2011. Customers claimed ongoing network disruptions, call drop-outs and inconsistent or over-billing associated with some services.

The company has reported losing almost 830,000 subscribers and more than $600 million in revenue since late 2010.

Piper Alderman had encouraged Vodafone or 3 Mobile customers to fill in an online survey if they had experienced calls that had dropped out, or had experienced poor reception or data performance.

A spokeswoman for Vodafone said it was “aware that a law firm which is known for promoting class actions" planned to make an announcement.

“That firm has not contacted Vodafone directly about this nor has it sought to discuss the claims of any customers it represents in the class action with Vodafone," she said.

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“Vodafone has not been provided with any details of the class action at this stage and is therefore not able to comment on the claims which might be made."

Piper Alderman spent most of 2011 trying to get the claim off the ground but things stalled when it could not obtain funding, which is typically provided by a third-party company to help finance expensive class-action litigation. Tuesday’s announcement will be supported by LCM Litigation Fund.

The online survey said Vodafone had “continued to charge customers on its mobile plans without providing the service it promised".

“Customers who signed up with Vodafone over the last three years may be entitled to compensation if they were misled into signing contracts or if Vodafone did not live up to its end of the bargain," it said.

Adam Brimo, a self-proclaimed “consumer activist" who started the Vodafail website in late 2010 that sparked a consumer move against the mobile carrier, said a lot of customers who had registered their interest at the time would have likely had their issues solved.

“If people weren’t getting reception or calls were dropping out, or they were being overcharged, a lot of those things should have been solved pretty quickly; you wouldn’t expect to need to go to court to get basic phone coverage," he said.

Mr Brimo initially started the website as a way of getting out of his contract with Vodafone, but the site became a focal point for much of the consumer reaction to network and billing issues at the time.

“I guess a lot of those issues probably affected their businesses and work," Mr Brimo said. “When that happens people are always looking to be compensated one way or another. But I think the majority of people, at least from what we’ve seen with Vodafone losing a lot of customers, have just spoken with their feet and gone somewhere else."